The roots of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences began in 1986 with the creation of the Physical Therapist Assisting program as part of University College.  In order to serve the Cincinnati area’s PT shortage, an undergraduate Physical Therapy program was created in 1994, received accreditation and graduated its first class three years later.

In 1998, the College of Allied Health Sciences was created and the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences formed to house the PTA and BS-PT programs.  In keeping with the American Physical Therapy Association’s criteria for PT education, the BS-PT program soon became an MPT program, and the first class of graduate students completed their degree in 2001.

About that time the department realized that there was a need for an undergraduate degree that could help launch students into graduate programs in medicine and allied health. The first class of Health Science students enrolled in 2002 and graduated with their BSHS degree in 2005.

In its Vision 2020 Strategic Plan (first drafted in 2000 and further defined in 2007), the APTA stated that by the year 2020 all PTs will hold Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degrees. The department’s PT faculty quickly went to work, and the DPT degree was approved in Spring 2007. The department’s Movement and Gait Analysis Laboratory also opened that year.

The department graduated its last PTA class in 2009 as the program was relocated to UC Clermont College. This year, the program recently graduated its 6th Health Science class, and the 3rd class of DPT students will graduate in late August.

(Revised: August 17, 2011)